“Archival research revealed that [Mal Woolford and Charlotte Woolford] are connected through historic transatlantic chattel slavery. Mal’s six-times great uncle Thomas Woolford left Wiltshire and settled in Barbados. A century later, at the abolition of slavery, his descendent Henry Woolford claimed compensation for enslaved people in Bridgetown, Barbados and Georgetown, British Guiana. It is probable that Charlotte is descended from those enslaved in the Woolford household in Murray Street, Georgetown.
Two hundred years later in London, they are neighbours.” (No Relation, press release)
From 25 March to 8 April 2024, British filmmaker and photographer Mal Woolford and his project collaborator, actor and educator Charlotte Woolford visited Guyana. It was Mal’s first visit and coincided with a personal trip Charlotte was undertaking in aid of her mother. The two had met by chance, and later began to unravel their likely connections during encounters as they collected their children after school. During the Guyana leg of their project, Mal conducted research at the National Archives, Guyana Lands and Surveys, and with a few individuals bearing the last name Woolford. Meanwhile, he and Charlotte came together to make analogue photographs in the environs of the Woolford Georgetown home and give a closed-door presentation to local photographers.